A convenience function for making a call to YQL from Ruby

yql_util.rb

# This is a convenience function for making a call to YQL from Ruby
# License: Yahoo! BSD http://gist.github.com/375593
# Usage: http://erikeldridge.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/ruby-yql-utility-function-example/

require 'net/http'
require 'rubygems'
require 'json'

def yql(query)
  uri = "http://query.yahooapis.com/v1/public/yql"

  # everything's requested via POST, which is all I needed when I wrote this
  # likewise, everything coming back is json encoded
  response = Net::HTTP.post_form( URI.parse( uri ), {
    'q' => query,
    'format' => 'json'
  } )

  json = JSON.parse( response.body )
  return json
end